Member Avatar for Smartedpanda

When I start up my computer, sometimes about one of out three times, it restarts. It happens only occationally. I ran an anti-virus and ad-aware scan found nothing. Is there something wrong with my OS or hardware?
I did a quick look over my computer nothing looked loose. Please help.

Win XP SP2, Dual Core AMD 4200+, 1 gig DDR2,

Any info needed please ask. Thank you guys!

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Brief expert checklist for : when the system boots, shows the desktop for a split second, then restarts, the problem often lies outside simple file scans — think power delivery, memory, graphics drivers, or the motherboard itself. was right to consider airflow, and ’s pointers about startup tools are useful, but since cooling didn't fix it for you, try the focused isolation steps below to find whether this is hardware or software.

  1. Boot from a live USB (Linux or WinPE). If the machine still reboots while running a live environment, Windows is unlikely to be the cause — that points to hardware.
  2. Run Memtest86+ from bootable media (allow several full passes). Any errors strongly indicate bad RAM or a faulty DIMM slot. See Memtest86+.
  3. Swap or test the PSU. A failing PSU causes intermittent reboots under small load changes. If possible, borrow a known-good PSU or use a PSU tester/multimeter.
  4. If the live USB is stable and RAM passes, test graphics: boot Safe Mode and perform a clean GPU driver uninstall (use a tool like DDU) and then reinstall the latest vendor driver.
  5. Visually inspect the motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors and reset BIOS to defaults (disable any overclocking). If nothing helps, a BIOS update from the board maker can fix firmware-level issues.

If Windows produces minidumps, analyze them with a small tool such as BlueScreenView to see which driver or module triggered the crash. Work methodically: live-USB -> memtest -> PSU -> graphics -> motherboard. That order separates hardware faults from driver/OS faults and will narrow down what to repair or replace.

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Member Avatar for foxmulder881

Randon restarts are often heat related. Try running your system with the case side off and see whether it makes a difference.

Member Avatar for Smartedpanda

Yeah, so far it is. But I haven't been keeping track of restarts lately. Thanks I guess it's heat related. I guess I need better fan circulation.

Member Avatar for sennetor

Just to add to that. Right click on my computer, click on the advanced tab & click on settings for startup & recovery.

What your looking for is a checkbox under system failure that states" Automatically Restart".

Uncheck that box and click OK.

Good Luck

Member Avatar for Smartedpanda

Yeah, it's not the temp problem. It still restarts a few times and I been keeping track and it it's around 41-55 C's so yeah. I tried what you've said about the Advanced Tab...any other tips? It only restarts when it shows the desktop for a split second.

Member Avatar for sennetor

sounds like a software issue..have u checked the event viewer and msconfig?
Also let me know if u are using Maxtor Drives

Member Avatar for Smartedpanda

How do I check event viewer and msconfig for software issues?
I have a maxtor drive as a master and a seagate as a slave. Does that count?

Member Avatar for sennetor

Maxtor Hard Drives have a known ACPI issue which can cause what your describing...it i also fixed by a firmware update from maxtor.

First though I would check the event viewer by going to the control panel>Admin tools>event Viewer or typing eventvwr.msc in the start>Run box.

The event viewer will list all the errors in cronological order that your computer comes across whether u see them or not.

Second use the MSconfig tool to tweak how windows starts. Start>Run>MSconfig.

Maxtor update available from
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R126083&formatcnt=2&libid=0&fileid=167511

Member Avatar for Smartedpanda

nvm it's hitachi..triple checked cuz it sounded weird me having a maxtor. My dad has a maxtor MY BAD! Thanks though. I'll stop posting now until i at least know why it keeps restarting. Then I'll bump this up for the solution!

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